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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “options”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “options”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 6 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

WPC Product Options for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 135 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets 100K+ · 4.9★ (1516) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Extra Product Options For WooCommerce | Custom Product Addons and Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Options for Twenty Twenty-One 6K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (474) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 Options for Twenty Seventeen 8K+ · 4.8★ (57) wp.org #6 ↓2 7 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #12 ↓4 5 too low 8 Options for Twenty Twenty 3K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 Extra Product Sorting Options for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (31) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #18 ↑5 8 too low 11 Product Options and Price Calculation Formulas for WooCommerce – Uni CPO 1K+ · 4.6★ (79) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone 600K+ · 4.5★ (135) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 ACF Options For Polylang 20K+ · 4.4★ (17) wp.org #7 ↓1 6 too high 14 Product Option Kit – Product Options & Addons for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 YayExtra – WooCommerce Extra Product Options 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16 Simple Product Options for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.7★ (35) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 Extra Product Options Builder for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (94) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Options for Twenty Nineteen 700+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 WPC Product Options for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.1★ (10) wp.org #8 ↓1 11 too high 20 Admin Options Pages 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 Classic Visual Editor Options 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 More Sorting Options for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 Extra Product Options for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Options View 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.